Tag Archives: USAWA Bylaws

I’ve been appreciating the comments on the USAWA Discussion Forum recently in regards to ET’s editorial story the other day about problems and issues the USAWA faces in stimulating new memberships. I have to admit – most of ET’s sentiments I have felt at some time or another. Our organization is very unique in several ways compared to other lifting organizations. Some of the comments in the forum suggested ideas that sure sound good on paper (and would mimic the policies of other established lifting organizations), but they go against the founding principles of the USAWA. I know there are several new members to the USAWA that are not “in tune” to the historical philosophies of the USAWA, so I want to go over them today. These were foundation Principles of the USAWA, established by Bill Clark and the initial founding members of the USAWA 26 years ago when the initial USAWA bylaws were written. These ideas were the groundwork of the USAWA, and have been maintained throughout the years. Here they are – the 5 founding principles of the USAWA:

1. Contest lifts not currently contested in other lifting organizations.

The concept of the “all -rounds” was to offer a competitive avenue for contesting lifts not being offered by other lifting organizations, ie powerlifting and Olympic lifting. These means the Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift, Clean and Jerk, and the Snatch are not eligible to be USAWA lifts. This statement is and has been the VERY FIRST rule in the USAWA rulebook since the beginning. The intention here was to offer competition in lifts “outside” of the other forms of lifting – and to recognize what was called the “odd lifts”. The idea of this is to have an organization that is not just another form of powerlifting or Olympic lifting.

2. Drug Free Organization

From the beginning drug free competition within the USAWA was a goal. Drug Free competition is only insured by actually having drug testing occur. I know at times in the past this had to be questioned (adequate drug testing), but now we have one of the best drug testing programs of any lifting organization. We test at many meets, and a wide range of lifters are tested.

3. Use of minimal supportive equipment.

The initial intention of the USAWA was to have an organization that only included the use of a belt. No wraps, no suits, no anything else. But this principle was compromised with the addition of wrist wraps within a couple of years. The argument for wrist wraps was for wrist protection doing one arm swings, not wrist support. This “opened the door” to allowing wrist wraps for all lifts. Next came the use of knee wraps for the squats. However, the USAWA for the most part has maintained this original principle and has not allowed the wide range of supportive equipment that is now available to the lifters.

4. Age and bodyweight corrections.

From the beginning, the idea in the USAWA was to have all competitors competing against each other with formula adjustments. This includes using the Lynch Formula to correct for bodyweight, and the Age Allowance Percent for age correction. I won’t get into my views here on whether I feel these corrections are “fair” – but just making the point that this was an original principle that the USAWA was founded on.

5. Affiliate with IAWA for World Competitions.

From the day of the official organization of the USAWA, the IAWA was formed as well to give international competition. However, the USAWA has always had their own set of working bylaws separate from the IAWA. With time things have “evolved” within the USAWA to have some differences between the USAWA and the IAWA(UK), but integrity was kept in the main rules and concepts which has allowed this peaceful union over the past 26 years. It is important that when changes are made in the USAWA, we must always remember our IAWA affiliation and how this may affect our relationship within IAWA. Making changes about “little things” within the USAWA is one thing – but when “big issues” are addressed the decision is much larger than the USAWA. The last thing we want to do is damage our IAWA affiliation.

I may not fully agree with all of these founding principles of the USAWA – but I will support them because they are what our organization was formed from. Much like the articles in the United States Constitution – they were set for a reason by our founding fathers and should be respected and not changed or challenged. I just wanted to write this editorial because I know people often wonder how I stand on these issues. Well, the above Founding Principles are “set in concrete” in my opinion and should not be changed EVER within the USAWA. If we do change them we might as well change our name as well – because we wouldn’t be the same USAWA that our founding fathers envisoned for us.